Marketing on a Shoe String
Think you can’t afford to implement any effective marketing tactics? Think again. Here are five ways to make a splash on a shoestring budget.
Eager to expand your client base and spread the word about your products and services? Wondering if you should even bother with marketing programs if you don’t have thousands of dollars to spend? The answer, of course, is yes!
It’s financially riskier for a business not to market. And there are literally hundreds of cost-effective ideas you can use to increase your revenue. Here are five high-impact marketing approaches that don’t cost a bundle and can work for virtually every business.
1. Talk to your current clients
It’s amazing how much money businesses spend to gather market information and attract new clients when they have a wealth of opportunity and information in their existing client base. One of the best ways to increase revenue is to talk to existing customers. Ideally, someone outside your company should serve as a facilitator, so clients are willing to be honest and open.
When you assess perceptions, you don’t need to talk to every person who has ever done business with your company – five to 10 clients will suffice. When compiling your contact list, it is important to diversify clients.
Information obtained from clients that have similar needs and employ similar people will not be as useful as information from a variety of contacts.
All you have to do is contact them to ask if they’d participate in a phone interview. Here’s how it works:
- Send a letter or make a phone call asking permission to have an outside party contact the company in order to ask several questions about the services and/or products you provide to them.
- Have the interviewer call and ask value-based questions such as:
- What problems were you trying to solve or what challenges were you facing when you considered the services of Company ABC?
- How important were Company ABC’s services in solving your problems or addressing your challenges?
- What did you value most about this company’s work?
- What other products or services do you wish they offered that could help you with other business challenges?
- Are there any suggestions that you would give the company so they may provide a more valuable service to future clients?
- After all the interviews have been conducted, compile the information in a manner that will allow you to easily discover trends and themes.
- Send a thank-you letter to every client who participated. Include key lessons from the interviews and explain the specific changes you plan to make to your business based on this information.
- Use the information that you learn! If you don’t make changes to your business, those who have participated in these interviews will notice! Taking action that reflects the outside suggestions will be appreciated, but if these suggestions are ignored, it may have a negative effect on your company’s brand.
Remember, it’s not about how satisfied they are – it’s about how much they valued your product or service.
2. Creatively package your marketing campaigns
A postcard is one way to market your business, but it might be easily discarded as junk mail. How about putting a small handful of flower seeds into a small box along with a note that states, “We can help you grow”? Think outside the box and your marketing campaigns will have more impact.
Don’t be afraid to see what other people in other industries are doing and adapt ideas to fit your business. If you are worried that companies in the surrounding area are employing the same tactics, perhaps research what companies in faraway states are doing.
Also, think about the little things that will get attention. Small details such as changing the color or size of an envelope may grab your constituent’s eye.
Perhaps the most important steps of this tactic come before and after the marketing campaign. Make sure that you set a clear objective for the campaign and that everyone involved is on the same page. If all parties are clear on objectives, it is less likely that you will encounter problems during execution. Also, it is important to plan how you will identify and measure its success. Will you conduct follow-up phone calls, send out surveys or simply compare and contrast numbers?
In addition to letting you know if this campaign is successful, it will allow you to evaluate how to change the campaign for the future.
3. Get the word out with publicity
Although hiring a public relations or publicity firm has many advantages, such as tremendous contacts and experience, most small companies can do enough PR on their own to spark the public’s interest. Just sending an announcement to the local newspaper about new hires and business deals can be enough to have your name published and ultimately recognized in the community.
Make sure that your goals are realistic. Though it does happen, don’t expect one story in a daily newspaper to generate thousands of dollars in revenue. Take action once your name hits the press. If the publication prints articles online, forward the link to your clients, friends and family. Also, feature a blurb in your company newsletter, including the title of the publication that highlighted your recognition.
Even if a publication doesn’t pick up a press release, there are still other ways to get your news noticed. Put all company news on your Web site by creating a “News” page that can be accessed directly from your homepage. This way, anytime someone lands on your page, they have a quick recap of the happenings of your company.
Remember: PR can be virtually cost free and is more credible than advertising since it comes from a source outside of your company!
4. Leverage existing relationships
Most people know at least 200 people. Do the math: If you know 200 people and they each know 200 people, that’s 40,000 potential contacts! Spend time developing relationships with the people you already know –clients, colleagues, people you meet through professional networking organizations, friends and even family.
Start by making a list of all the people you know. Those who you feel are already advocates for your company are most likely already referring business to you. While you don’t have to put a lot of effort into building those relationships, you still must work to maintain the confidence they hold in your company. During conversation listen to these counterparts and do your best to show them that supporting your business is truly recognized and appreciated.
Next, are the people who you believe would refer you to new business, if they knew more about you. It is very important that you provide these contacts with new knowledge concerning your company. Whether you sit down and have a business lunch, send a brochure through the mail or add them as a newsletter recipient, these small gestures may go a long way.
While communicating with these colleagues, make sure that the message is to educate, not to sell your business. The key here is to build relationships. If you come across like a door-to-door salesman trying to sell your services like a used vacuum, you compromise your brand. Relationships take time to develop as credibility and trust are established. To be truly effective, you must always be on the lookout for ways you can help your network. Start from the perspective of giving more than you ask for, and your network will become your most valuable marketing tool.
5. Commit to e-mail marketing
It is important not to forget to use resources that you already have in place. Marketing through e-mail is flexible, cost-effective and high impact. It allows you to easily drive traffic to your Web site, reach a broad geographic audience and stay in frequent contact with your customers and prospects. E-mail marketing allows you to market your services and establish your expertise with your audience.
Use it for newsletters, new product announcements or to share your publicity success – the ideas are endless. But be careful and know that this flexibility and ease-of-use can cause problems. Remember, this is a marketing campaign. Be sure to think it through, develop an appropriate message, create a piece that reflects your brand, know your objectives and make sure the information is valuable for your market, or people will quickly unsubscribe.
Most importantly, don’t let your e-mails become spam! Don’t send e-mails every day to everyone you know. Send e-mail only to those people who have given permission. When someone asks to be removed, respond immediately. These five tactics, when implemented correctly, can bring a whole new life to your business. Within months of carrying out your marketing campaign, you should be seeing changes. New constituents, higher revenues and increased client satisfaction are results of a successful campaign.
Remember to be patient – marketing takes time. Research, schedule and test your ideas before jumping into a campaign. Take time to adapt to the responses that you receive. When the campaign is complete, organize and evaluate its effectiveness. If you do not reflect on the good/bad elements of your marketing, it is impossible to know the most or least successful aspects.
It's been my experience that any level of successful marketing begins with a plan. I have found that with very little money and a sound investment of my time can turn a focused task into a prime marketing campaign. Case in point is blogging. The greatest resource it costs me is time but the return makes it worth it!
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Yes, while that is true, you also want to make sure that the time you are putting in is focused on your core target audience.
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